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Saudis Urge Syrian Leader to Cooperate With U.N.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Jan. 8 - President Bashar al-Assad of Syria rushed to Saudi Arabia and Egypt on Sunday for surprise meetings with their leaders.

The meetings occurred a day after he was quoted as saying that he would not cooperate with the United Nations investigation of the assassination of Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister.

Within hours of a meeting in Damascus with the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, Mr. Assad flew to Jidda, Saudi Arabia. There, he joined a meeting and banquet with top members of the Saudi ruling family, including King Abdullah; Prince Naif, the interior minister; Prince Miqren, the chief of general intelligence; and Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the secretary general of the National Security Council, the government-run Saudi Press Agency reported.

He then continued on to Sharm el Sheik, Egypt, where he met with President Hosni Mubarak.

In wording clearly meant to encourage Mr. Assad to cooperate, the Saudi royal family released a statement saying that at the meeting, King Abdullah "affirmed the kingdom's desire for stronger relations between Syria and Lebanon in all fields, so that the interests of both countries and security of the region are protected."

It is not the first time that Saudi Arabia has prodded Syria to ease relations with Lebanon and the United Nations. In March, Mr. Assad went to Riyadh seeking support for his determination to keep Syrian troops in Lebanon, but was bluntly rebuffed by Abdullah. In November, the Saudis brokered a deal in which Syria allowed some officials to meet with United Nations investigators.

Last month, a preliminary United Nations investigation into the truck bombing that killed Mr. Hariri and 20 others in February 2005 concluded that the attack was the work of high-level Syrian and Lebanese intelligence officers. Syria has repeatedly denied involvement, and has sought to discredit witnesses and raise doubts about the evidence presented.

International pressure on Syria has increased recently, especially after a former Syrian vice president, Abdel-Halim Khaddam, went public last month with accusations that Mr. Assad and other Syrian officials had threatened Mr. Hariri in the months before he was killed by a truck bomb.

Last week, United Nations investigators asked to directly interview Mr. Assad and Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa about the killing. In an interview published Saturday in the Egyptian newspaper Al-Osboa, Mr. Assad was quoted as saying that he intended to reject the request, citing presidential immunity.